The impact of intersectionality on the experience of medical trainees.

Abstract

Diverse trainees have different training experiences than non-diverse trainees; however, it has not been demonstrated if the number of diverse traits (DTs) (i.e. intersectionality) contributes to worse experiences. Our objective was to understand if the number of DTs a trainee has impacts their training experience. We distributed a survey to medical trainees at Mass General Brigham from 15/12/23 to 15/4/24. DTs were based on race/ethnicity, gender-identity, sexual orientation, birthplace, disability, and highest parental education. A total of 134 responses were obtained. Respondents with 1 DT were more likely to report dissatisfaction with the quality of their training compared to those with 0 DT (P = 0.03). However, this did not remain true for those with 2 or 3+ DT (P = 0.39, P = 0.59). Only respondents with 1 DT disagreed that they had similar opportunities for academic success to those of their peers (P = 0.03) and agreed that they had to work harder than others to be valued equally (P < 0.01). Respondents with 3+ DTs felt that their institution was not diverse (P < 0.01) and racist (P < 0.01) compared to respondents with zero DTs. Therefore, trainees with DTs had different training experiences than trainees with zero DTs, but the number of DTs did not consistently correlate with the quality of their experience. We believe this data is important for administrators to understand how intersectionality effects the trainee experience. Additionally, we believe this data can be used to gauge disparities in education and create an avenue to address issues, such as discrimination, microaggressions, and low retention rate of diverse applicants.